I won't deny it: I've always been an ATintel guy. But I've always being curious about the "green side". I've used AMD CPUs and nVidia GPUs in laptops and they seem to work well but I never considered their products for desktops.

That's about to change now... but with a retro-spin.

Outside of the CPU, board and GPU, I'll use cheap, easily replaceable components since this'll be my first time modding a case, sleeving cables, etc. The component selection is also limited to what my local PC vendor of choice stocks.

I didn't intent to begin this project so soon but I found an Asrock 939A8X-M board for sale last week and jumped the gun on it. While it gets here I thought I could start to mod the case.

Targeted specs:

AMD Athlon FX60 socket 939

Geforce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 AGP

Asrock 939A8X-M

4GB OCZ PC4000 Enhanced Bandwith Platinum Edition

CM Hyper TX3

Elite Power 460. I know it's a POS but should be enough.

K-MEX CM-3E22 mATX case

Evercool Evergreen fans everywhere

Inside the case:

Planned mods:
- Change the orientation of the PSU 180º so that it draws cold air from the top. Not done since the PSU fan isn't centered.
- Switch the PSU fan for an Evergreen. Sleeve cables. Done.
- top 120mm blower. Done.
- 120mm intakes at the bottom and front. Changed to 90mm intakes. Done.
- Add a window. Done.
- Fan controller in the top bay? shouldn't interfere with the blower. Done.
- Green LED strips on the bottom with on/off switch. Done with no switch.

Going to be a nice built there. That fx60 is going be a hard one to cough up though. I hope you can find one rather cheap as there going for around $200 on ebay right now. Can't wait to see the final build.

i was thinking of putting one of my old systems back together either my x1950 agp or dig out my ibm aptiva and voodoo 2000.
good luck with the fx60 i would go with the 3000 nobody could afford the fx60 back then anyway, they retailed for about £600 back then.

I don't get why is that. I mean, there are quad cores that go for that amount. I get it's an FX and all that but performance wise it should be $70. tops. The 4800+ goes for about that and is my plan B but I'd really like to own an FX60. Time will tell.

I don't get why is that. I mean, there are quad cores that go for that amount. I get it's an FX and all that but performance wise it should be $70. tops. The 4800+ goes for about that and is my plan B but I'd really like to own an FX60. Time will tell.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

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I know what you mean. I don't get it either why that proc is still so expensive. I get that it was the "best" 939 proc and all. But hell there can't be that much demand for it. You can by a x6 for cheaper.

I know what you mean. I don't get it either why that proc is still so expensive. I get that it was the "best" 939 proc and all. But hell there can't be that much demand for it. You can by a x6 for cheaper.

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There's also the Opteron 185 but then I couldn't use the Athlon 64 FX sticker I bought.

It's just price gouging since it's old hardware. Someone has an old rig that they want to breathe new life into, and they look & find out this is the best chip they can get (most aren't smart enough to figure out the Opterons, and this one is unlocked). And supply is low...

The case for the build will be a K-MEX CM-3E22 mATX case. K-MEX proudly announces on the box that it comes with HD Audio plug, a 24 pin 400w ATX PSU with 2 SATA power connectors and a "shiny panel" (when did that become a bullet point in case design?)

The case comes protected with polystyrene foam on the top and bottom along with a clear plastic bag. Pretty standard stuff.

The case is as small as they get, measuring 35x36x17 cms. The left side sports a big vent while the other side is plain. The panels are interchangeable.

The front panel is shiny indeed (good thing the box didn't lie to us, that's how brand loyalty develops) and comes with the standard I/O options of mic, headphones and 2 USB 2.0 ports in addition to the three exposed bays.

The back has a space for an 80 or 92mm fan, 4 expansion slots with punched slot covers (one already removed) and slots for a parallel and a serial port along with a DC socket mounting hole. The left panel is secured with thumbscrews and the right panel with regular hex screws.

The top panel is plain except for two indentations on the front an back.

The bottom has molded case feet and some curious holes apparently for not reason (or so I thought).

After removing the side panel I discovered that K-MEX actually took the time to secure the PSU cable and the bag of accessories with masking tape and the cables with ties. Not the best work in that regard but I've seen pricier cases that look like a party aftermath when you remove the side panel so this is a plus in my book.

And now we discover the purpose of the holes in the bottom of the case. Turns out that the case has no hard drive cage but two mounting spaces on the side and bottom of the case instead.

The accessories include an spare slot cover, assortment of screws, a buzzer, 4 rubber bases for the feet and the PSU cable.

The motherboard tray has numerous cutouts and holes so there's potential for cable management although there's not a lot of clearance but if it's just cables 8mm ought to be enough.

The interior is basically a big box ripe for some modding.

The case is pretty good really, considering the price ($30). The only thing I don't really like is the front panel but as the song says, you do with what you've got.